Gold mine leads way for COVID-19 prevention

KEEPING workers, families and the community safe are the main goals for the Ballarat Gold Mine, who have taken a range of preventative measures to help combat COVID-19.

Not only has the mine introduced temperature screenings and further handwashing stations at their Mount Clear premises, but they have also donated 3000 face masks to Ballarat Health Service.

The BHS utilises between 800 and 1000 face masks per day, with the donated masks being used in the hospital’s emergency department and COVID-19 fever clinic.

Gold mine health and safety manager Leigh Searle said his wife is a nurse at the hospital, so he understands the dire need for isolation and social distancing.

“My wife is on the frontlines battling this disease, so if she’s on the frontlines, that means my two-year-old is on the frontlines as well,” he said.

Alongside temperature screenings and added handwashing stations the mine has also instituted social distancing rules on site and in meetings to limit the amount of times members of different crews interact with each other.

These measures have been implemented to ensure the safety of employees who are unable to work from home, such as miners and mineral processors.

To ensure the mental health of employees the mine has developed a variety of ways for employees to seek help from an employee assistance program over the phone to a weekly mental health awareness talk with the crewmembers.

Mr Searle said education about, and prevention of, the disease are the best ways to combat the spread.

“We don’t have any cases of COVID-19, so everything we can do to prevent it in the first instance is the plan,” he said.

The mine will employ two people in the coming weeks and hopes to remain an employer of locals looking for work.

Mr Searle said he and his team are grateful for the “privilege” of working, as they understand that many have lost their jobs.

“We have 250 people from Ballarat working here and a lot of our suppliers are from Ballarat as well, so we’re just happy to be able to help keep the economy ticking over any way we can,” he said.